Stuart Hall to fight sex offence allegations

Published on 07/02/2013 11:31

VETERAN BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall today vowed to fight sex offence allegations and “regain my reputation”, saying he had been through a “living nightmare” and questioning why the allegations had taken so long to surface.

• Hall was charged by Lancashire Police last month

• He was charged with one count of rape and 14 offences of indecent assault allegedly committed between 1967 and 1986

Speaking outside Preston Magistrates’ Court, the 83-year-old former It’s A Knockout presenter said: “The last two months of my life have been a living nightmare. I have never gone through so much stress in my life.”

He thanked his “very loving family” for their support and said that without it he might have considered taking his own life.

He also questioned why the allegations had taken so long to surface.

And he said he would like to survive “another couple of years” and hoped to “regain my honour, reputation and my life”.

Hall was charged by Lancashire Police last month with one count of rape allegedly committed in 1976 against a 22-year-old woman and 14 offences of indecent assault against 10 girls aged between nine and 16, which allegedly took place between 1967 and 1986.

He has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century and was last year awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours.

His eccentric and erudite football match summaries made him a cult figure on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Here is the statement by veteran BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall, made outside Preston Magistrates’ Court, in full:

“May I just say these allegations are pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious.

“And may I just say I am not guilty and will be defending these accusations.

“Like a lot of other people in this country today I am wondering why it has taken 30 or 40 years for these allegations to surface.

“The last two months of my life have been a living nightmare. I have never gone through so much stress in my life and I am finding it difficult to sustain.

“Fortunately I have a very loving family and they are very supportive and I think but for their love I might have been constrained to take my own life.

“They have encouraged me to fight on, to fight the charges and regain my reputation and good name and whatever I have represented to this country down the years.

“With that I would like to thank everybody who has supported me for their good will which has sustained me through this absolutely horrific ordeal.

“As I say I shall be defending myself. I am 83-years-old. I was a healthy 83-year-old, but I am now incubating a heart complaint and I’ll be very lucky to survive another couple of years.

“But I hope to survive those two years and regain my honour and reputation and more than ever, my life.”